A Windows desktop app that transforms your clipboard with AI. Keep it running, copy text in any app, return to AIPaste, and rewrite, translate, or run a custom prompt from a polished, keyboard-friendly workspace.
- Persistent desktop window – Keep AIPaste open like Outlook or Teams, minimize it to the taskbar, and restore it whenever you need another transform.
- Automatic clipboard refresh – Returning to or restoring AIPaste automatically loads the latest copied text into the Source pane.
- Faster repeated use – Copilot warms in the background after the UI appears, and client initialization is serialized to prevent competing runtime startups.
- Isolated transforms – Every Rewrite, Translate, or Custom request still uses a fresh Copilot session, so previous text never leaks into the next request.
- Single-instance restore – Starting
AIPaste.exeagain restores the existing running app instead of creating a duplicate. - Smarter installer – The installer checks for the .NET 9 Desktop Runtime, can install it through winget with confirmation, starts AIPaste, opens its install folder, and keeps its taskbar-pinning guidance visible.
- Portable zip release – Releases are normal framework-dependent zip folders, avoiding single-file extraction overhead while keeping updates simple.
- Installer script –
scripts\Install-AIPaste.ps1downloads the release zip, removes the Windows downloaded-file security mark, asks where to install it, and unblocks the extracted files.
- One-click Copilot login – A new Open Copilot to login button in Settings opens the bundled Copilot CLI and copies
/loginto your clipboard, so signing in is just paste + Enter. - Pinned Copilot CLI – The bundled CLI no longer self-updates (
COPILOT_AUTO_UPDATE=false), keeping it version-matched to the SDK so sign-in can't break from version drift. - Stable config location – Settings, custom actions and credentials now live in
%APPDATA%\AIPaste\config.json, so they survive app updates (the portable build previously stored them in a volatile temp folder). - Theme switcher – Choose System, Light, or Dark from Settings → Appearance; the app re-skins instantly.
- UI fixes – The tray icon now shows reliably, Settings content is centered with the Save button always visible, and the duplicate timing label / Regenerate button were removed (timing stays in the status bar).
A complete UI redesign and rearchitecture. AIPaste went from a stack of basic WinForms dialogs to a modern app shell with a unified workflow.
| v1.x | v2.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tray menu | 4 items (Open / Configure / Custom Actions / Exit) | 2 items (Open / Exit) — everything else lives inside the popup |
| UI style | Default WinForms gray | Dark theme · purple accent · rounded surfaces · custom-painted controls |
| Mode picker | Dropdown | Pill-shaped chip toolbar (Rewrite / Translate / Custom) |
| Tone & Language | Dropdowns | Chip rows |
| Model + Process | Two separate controls | Single split-button pill (model picker + ✨ Process) |
| Configuration | Modal dialog window | In-app Settings pane (no window switching) |
| Custom Actions | Separate window | In-app Custom Actions pane with sidebar list + detail editor |
| Navigation | Tray right-click | Left activity rail (VS Code style) — Process / Custom Actions / Settings |
| Status | Hidden | Bottom status bar with auth dot, current model, action count, contextual hint |
| Window | Standard title bar | Borderless with custom dark bar; drag-to-move from top |
| Keyboard | Limited | Esc to close · Enter to process · Ctrl+1/2/, to switch panes |
- AI-powered text transforms – Rewrite, translate, or run custom prompts on any clipboard text
- Two providers – GitHub Copilot (CLI auth, bundled) or Azure OpenAI (bring your own endpoint + key)
- Per-request model picker – Pick any available model on the fly via the model pill
- Tone control – Professional · Casual · Informative · Enthusiastic
- Translation – Hindi & Gujarati out of the box (more easy to add)
- Custom Actions – Reusable AI prompts with
{text}placeholder; manage from the in-app pane - Streaming output – AI result appears live, character by character
- Theme – System · Light · Dark, switchable in Settings (follows Windows by default)
- Status bar – Always-on auth indicator + current model
- Persistent workspace – Keep AIPaste running and minimize/restore it from the Windows taskbar
- Clipboard refresh on activation – The latest copied text appears automatically when you return to AIPaste
- Single-instance – Starting AIPaste again restores the existing app instead of launching a duplicate
- System tray – Optional quick access to open or exit the running app
- Windows 10 / 11
- .NET 9.0 Desktop Runtime
- One of the following:
- GitHub Copilot – Active GitHub Copilot subscription (Copilot CLI is bundled with the app)
- Azure OpenAI – Azure subscription with a deployed OpenAI resource
Run the installer script. It checks for the .NET 9 Desktop Runtime (and offers to install it through winget if needed), downloads the latest AIPaste-v*.zip from Releases, asks where to install it, unblocks the extracted files, starts AIPaste, and opens its install folder. The installer waits for you to press Enter so its taskbar-pinning guidance remains visible. Press Enter at the location prompt to use %LOCALAPPDATA%\AIPaste.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Install-AIPaste.ps1Then run %LOCALAPPDATA%\AIPaste\AIPaste.exe. Keep the window open or minimized to the taskbar for fast repeated transforms.
Manual install is also supported: download the latest AIPaste-v*.zip, right-click it, choose Properties, check Unblock, extract it to %LOCALAPPDATA%\AIPaste, then run AIPaste.exe.
git clone https://github.com/tannadhruv92/AIPaste.git
cd AIPaste
dotnet build -c ReleaseThe build pulls the bundled GitHub Copilot CLI on first compile (~50 MB download).
$version = "2.3.0"
$out = "publish\AIPaste-v$version"
dotnet publish .\AIPaste.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false -p:PublishSingleFile=false -o $out
Compress-Archive -Path "$out\*" -DestinationPath "publish\AIPaste-v$version.zip" -ForceUpload publish\AIPaste-v$version.zip to the GitHub release. Do not upload publish\single\AIPaste.exe for releases.
When you first run AIPaste, it'll prompt you to configure a provider. Inside the app window, click the ⚙ Settings icon at the bottom of the rail.
Choose a theme at the top of Settings → Appearance:
- 🖥 System – follow the Windows light/dark setting (default)
- ☀ Light – always light
- 🌙 Dark – always dark
The app re-skins instantly and your choice is saved.
- In Settings, select the ⚡ GitHub Copilot card
- Click 🔓 Open Copilot to login — this opens the bundled Copilot CLI and copies
/loginto your clipboard - In the Copilot terminal, paste (
Ctrl+V) and press Enter, then follow the browser flow - Back in AIPaste click ↻ Re-check — status pill should turn green ✓ Authenticated
- Choose your Default Model and click Save
- Create an Azure OpenAI resource in the Azure Portal
- Deploy a model (e.g.
gpt-4o,gpt-4) - Note your:
- Endpoint –
https://your-resource.openai.azure.com - API Key – Azure Portal → Keys and Endpoint
- Deployment ID – Name of your deployed model
- Endpoint –
- In AIPaste Settings, select the ☁ Azure OpenAI card
- Fill in API key, endpoint, and deployment ID, then Save
API keys are encrypted with Windows DPAPI before being stored in config.json (located at %APPDATA%\AIPaste\config.json).
- Run
AIPaste.exeonce and leave it open or minimized - Copy any text (
Ctrl+C) from another app - Return to AIPaste — the Source pane automatically refreshes with the latest clipboard text
- Pick a mode — Rewrite, Translate, or Custom
- Tweak controls — Tone, Language, or Action depending on mode
- (Optional) Click the model name to switch models for this request only
- Press Enter (or click ✨ Process) — the result streams into the Result pane
- ✓ Accept & Copy — copies the result and minimizes AIPaste so you can paste it into the original app
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter |
Run Process (the split button has default focus) |
Esc |
Minimize AIPaste |
Ctrl+1 |
Process pane |
Ctrl+2 |
Custom Actions pane |
Ctrl+, |
Settings pane |
Reusable AI prompts for repetitive tasks. Switch to the 📋 Custom Actions pane from the rail (or Ctrl+2).
- Click ＋ New Action
- Enter a Name and a Prompt Template — use
{text}as the placeholder for clipboard content - Click 💾 Save
- Your action now appears as a chip in Custom mode on the Process pane
| Name | Prompt template |
|---|---|
| Fix Grammar | Fix any grammar and spelling errors in the following text: {text} |
| Summarize | Summarize the following text in 2–3 sentences: {text} |
| Make Bullet Points | Convert the following text into bullet points: {text} |
| Explain Simply | Explain the following in simple terms a 10-year-old would understand: {text} |
| Email Reply | Write a professional email reply to: {text} |
- .NET 9.0 SDK
- Visual Studio 2022 or VS Code (with C# Dev Kit)
- Internet access on first build (downloads the bundled Copilot CLI)
git clone https://github.com/tannadhruv92/AIPaste.git
cd AIPaste
dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release
dotnet run # for local testingAIPaste/
├── Program.cs # Entry point + single-instance pipe
├── MainForm.cs # Hidden host form + system tray
├── MainForm.Designer.cs
├── ConfigManager.cs # Settings persistence (DPAPI-encrypted)
├── CopilotClientManager.cs # Singleton Copilot SDK client + session pre-warm
├── UI/
│ ├── Theme.cs # Colours, fonts, metrics
│ ├── GraphicsExt.cs # Rounded-rect helpers
│ ├── AppShellForm.cs # Persistent app window + activation clipboard refresh
│ ├── Controls/
│ │ ├── ChipButton.cs # Pill-shaped chip
│ │ ├── ChipGroup.cs # Labelled chip row (Mode / Tone / Language / Action)
│ │ ├── SurfaceCard.cs # Rounded surface container
│ │ ├── SplitActionButton.cs# Model + ✨ Process pill
│ │ ├── ActivityRail.cs # Left navigation rail
│ │ └── StatusBar.cs # Bottom ambient status bar
│ └── Panes/
│ ├── ProcessPane.cs # Default pane — chip toolbar + clipboard + result
│ ├── SettingsPane.cs # Provider · auth · default model
│ └── CustomActionsPane.cs# List + detail editor for saved prompts
└── config.json # User configuration (stored in %APPDATA%\AIPaste)
- API keys are encrypted with Windows DPAPI (per-user) before persisting to
config.json - All data stays local — nothing is sent anywhere except your configured AI provider
- Configuration lives in
%APPDATA%\AIPaste\config.json(per-user; survives app updates)
Pull requests welcome! For larger changes please open an issue first.
- Fork the repo
- Create a feature branch —
git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature - Commit —
git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature' - Push —
git push origin feature/AmazingFeature - Open a Pull Request
MIT — see LICENSE.
Made with ❤️ for clipboard power users.